Time to replace my harness, it's passing its 5th birthday. My Chaos has been great, best harness I've ever owned, and was mainly thinking to just get another one. Anybody have alternate trad harness favorites that I should consider?

I have to go with the Arc'teryx harnesses as well. I have the X350a which is most like the current R-360a. Light as can be. Comfortable, and did I mention light.

I have had several misty harnesses and liked the Cadillac. I have also had a bod, chaos for a few years as well as the Big Gun. I actually found the arc'teryx harness to be more comfortable on walls as well.

I just got a Mammut Togir Light Harness for $50 at gear X, super light, and without those annoying leg buckles. It's more comfortable to hang in than my petzel sama. It also has those awesome plastic tie-in protectors. The bad: the gear loops suck! Luckily I rack cams on a shoulder sling.

Check out Misty Mountain Thread works. I have there cadillac and Sonic. Both super confy with plenty of racking space. Made in the USA and will take custom orders such as ice clipper slots, buckle types( old school or speed). and there custy service is pretty good too,

Misty Mountain all the way...I've had 2 titans for big wall/long trad routes with lots of hanging belays. And it is extremely comfy, and all made in the USA. I'm on my second one in 13 years, so I feel that they are absolutely worth the price.

I have a petzl corax, and in terms of trad harnesses, its one of the better ones I've seen. It doesn't have a dedicated haul line, but if that's an issue, you don't need a "trad" harness so much as a big-wall harness.

If you need to have anything besides your belay and tie in loops full strength you're doing it wrong.

I don't think anyone "needs" to have the additional full-strength features. The safe tech all-around fits me perfect and suits my needs (on my second one) and it happens to have the full-strength features. As mentioned, very durable and made in the USA. Maybe a touch heavier than average (16oz) but fairly packable. Adjustable rise lets you dial in the fit. I have actually clipped myself to an anchor via a gear loop secondary to my main attachment via the climbing rope to re-position myself for better photo angles. If anything, it's a unique harness and the extra bombproof features add some peace of mind.

Really? You don't find it "too much" for average trad? Just seems like overkill and hot to have all the extra coverage and padding.

I had the same reaction...took a Big Gun off the rack at the shop yesterday and put it right back down without trying it on...the extra weight is strikingly noticeable...I guess if I was doing a lot of aid (which I think is the intended purpose of the harness) I'd be tempted, but according to the BD site, the Big Gun is 9oz (aka, more than half a pound!) heavier than the Chaos. I use one harness for everything (including backcountry alpine), so I can't sign up for a weight increase like that!

The extra ones on the top of the belt are useless. Unless you somehow come up with a way to rack tiny stuff (on the smaller top gear loops) on top of what you're somehow not going to use or need on the rear gear loops- yeah, it's just a pain in the ass. More gear loops doesn't mean that it's efficient. The huge loop in the back is sometimes useful for stuff that you want to stay out of the way until the belay or rap, but that's about it. It's still too big and it's overkill.

The saving grace of this harness is that it is very comfortable, but you pay for it with weight. Go get a Misty. That's what I did, and it's totally worth it.

I'm dealing with my current harness for trad until these hit market (BD Momentum SA - can literally get my rack on my harness but not a carabiner more & I don't have a huge rack, I'm a small and I guess BD assumes my gear is proportional to my waist size)

Wild Country Summit 6 Full Sized Gear loops 1 Tiny one dead center back From what I've read/heard basically the replacement to the Syncro with a bunch of awesome updates